So you have decided to go an extra step further and make your own Pie Crust! Good for the chef inside you. Before we move onto the actual recipe, let's start with the basics. What is a Pie Crust? What can I make with it?Typically a Pie Crust is this crunchy base to sweet and savory Pies and Quiches. The base made with Cold Butter & Flour goes through chilling, freezing and baking to attain the crunchiness of these crusts. Typically, these bases are used for Pies and Quiches. To try a Quiche recipe with this Pie, click on the link below. Let's see how you can plan making the crust a day or two in advance. https://boyeatsworld.in/recipes/chicken-lorraine-quiche-with-pie-crust-recipe/Making Pie Crust in AdvanceI would best recommend you to make the Pie Crust, a day in advance. Hey don't get me wrong here - you can totally do the whole thing in 3 hours (have the quiche ready) but it might be too much for a day. But I'll leave it completely up to you. In order to do this, you may prepare your dough, flatten and bake the crust a day ahead and finally make the Quiche the next day. In case you are really short on time on the day you plan on serving the Quiche. You may bake it (75%) a day prior and then fully bake it prior to serving, so it regains its freshness.The Dough: An extremely easy dough, made in a food processor - with ice cold water and ice cold butter, leaving granules. You basically would just need to bind the granules together using your hands and cling wrap and leave it in the fridge for an hour or alternatively, overnight. Once you are done with that, you can flatten it out into a roti or a flatbread like (bigger) structure and then add to your tart pan and freeze for 30 mins, post which you bake it to get that crunchiness. It is at stage you can choose to leave your pie crust half done in the oven, and work on it the next day, within 24 hours (I have tried and tested this, it stays fresh). What is Pie Weight ?When you are baking the quiche tart the first time, which is without any fillings (also known as blind bake), you would need to weigh the bottom crust down, so it doesn't swell up. So how do you do that?It's extremely simple, you would just need to line the center of the crust with parchment paper and a cup of raw rice or beans on it, to add weight to it (as pictured above). This way the bottom of the tart doesn't swell - giving it the required consistency at the base. My dough is not flattening! Its too hard. What can I do?This must be due to leaving the dough in the refrigerator for a longer time leading the butter to act up. Let it sit outside for 10-15 minutes and wait for it come to room temperature before you use a Rolling Pin to flatten it. YieldThis recipe will give you one Single Pie Crust. If you are looking for a thicker crust also known as "double crust", you may multiply the entire recipe by 2. The size of the mold used for this recipe is 9". It will work well for an 8" mold as well. If you are making any tart or pie dish, it is best to use molds using removable bases. Irrespective of the size you are making, demolding tart becomes much easier when you can simply pick up the base out of the edges, thus making sure you don't damage this crusted beauty. These molds are available easily on Amazon. Here's the link to the Mold I used:https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/b013lsd96o/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=utf8&psc=1Lets get Started!
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Oven or Microwave Oven
- Refrigerator and Freezer
- 8-9" Tart Pan
Ingredients
- 100 g Butter very cold, cut in cubes
- 3-4 tbsp Iced Cold Water
- 1¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Granulated Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Start by placing butter in the freezer so it's colder than normal. Next, add your dry ingredients (flour, sugar & salt) in a food processor. Give it a short pulse for it to combine.
- Next, chop the butter into small to medium cubes. Do so quickly, so the butter doesn't warm up, and add to the food processor. Pulse the mix until you see flour and butter turning into thick granules.
- Once you see the granules, and depending upon the dryness of the dough, add 3 to 4 tbsp. of ice cold water and give it a final pulse.
- Take the mixture out in a clean surface and using your hands and heat of your palm, bring it together into a ball. There is no need to knead the dough. Tightly cling wrap the dough and keep it in the fridge for an hour.
- Once done, sprinkle a clean surface with flour, start flattening the dough using a Rolling Pin. The size of the dough should match the size of the Pan you are using and should be big enough to cover the edges.
- Place the flattened dough on the pan. At this point it is optional to make pleats along the edges. Once done, keep it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- When 10 minutes remain, pre-heat your Oven to 160°C. Take the crust out, and keep a parchment paper on it, and add either Rice or Beans to it - to blind bake the crust, as mentioned above.
- Keep it in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Once you feel the crust is 60-70% baked (browned, the crustiness will be felt once its cooling post baking), you may leave it overnight and use it the next day or you may add in your mix at this point and bake again to finish your dish.
Closing Note
I hope you enjoyed channeling this dough through various temperatures. Click on the link below to learn how you can make Quiche with your crusty dough. Don't worry, it gets easier now.
Let me know in the Ratings & Review column below, on how you like this recipe.
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